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Author
Topic: AMG Grants Committee 2009 (Read 6838 times)

The AMG Grants Committee 2009 is now officially formed: Chair and account holder: GerryVoting Members: David (David_NC), Nick (pozniceguy), CliffLiaison to the Fundraising Committee: Robert

The GC will abide by the following guidelines:

Quote

AMG Grants Committee

The AMG Grants Committee (the GC) was formed in 2005 as a means of pooling donations from generous members and other sources to help out some members who wanted to attend the AMG but were financially constrained.

STRUCTURE:

Chairperson and account holder (Voting; in charge of tracking finances and updating balance sheet; also tasked to review activities of the Fundraising Committee)

Committee Members (Voting)

Fundraising Manager (Non-voting, serves as a liaison to the GC and tasked to review the account activities of the GC)

GRANTS COMMITTEE CHARTER

PURPOSE

The Grants Committee aims to grant assistance to as many members in need wishing to attend the gathering as the available funds would allow. The GC shall manage all AMG grant operations and ensure there is adequate controls and transparency regarding the donation and grant operations process.

The Grants Committee shall support the following specific tasks: Soliciting donations Grant allocation  Periodic reporting to the wider forum members

MEMBERSHIP

The Grants Committee shall consist of at least three and at most five members. The GC shall ensure adequate membership to carry out the tasks specified in Rules of Operation.

Membership to the Grants Committee is voluntary. The membership of the GC shall be appointed by the previous GC, who shall serve a one year term. There shall be no limit to the number of terms any member may serve.

New members shall be elected by a majority vote of the Grants Committee. Any member may elect to resign from the GC at any time with written notice. Any member may be removed by a majority vote of the GC. At any time, a member may be added, removed, or replaced by the GC. The new GC membership shall be communicated to the forum.

MEETINGS & REPORTS

The members of the Grants Committee must meet at least once per month. These meetings may be held via e-mail, private messaging and/or conference calls. It shall provide a report of all recent operations to the forum at least once every two months, including results (minutes) of any meetings held.

DURATION

The Grants Committee shall serve until dissolved by a majority vote of the forum or until such a time that there is not a sufficient number of members volunteering to serve in the GC to meet its purpose.

RULES OF OPERATION

 All activities of the GC shall meet approval of the AMG forum moderators in order to be able to use the forum to support such activities The GC shall solicit donations from the forum members. The GC is not tasked to perform any fundraising duties, except for soliciting donations from forum members. The GC may provide target amounts for the year and revise this accordingly depending on the number of requests for assistance received; it is not bound to guarantee that the target would be met. The GC shall obtain periodic updates from any fundraising activities performed on behalf of AMG, including timely receipt of funds from such activities. The GC shall solicit requests for grants. Grant requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The GC shall establish guidelines for approving grant requests. The goal is to spread the available donations to as many members requesting assistance as possible. Excluding donations that have been earmarked to specific recipients, when needing to choose which recipient to be awarded, the guiding principles include but are not limited to: (1) awarding grants to requesting members who have not received them in the past; (2) awarding grants to members who have shown commitment to productive forum participation; (3) awarding grants to members who have donated in the past and are now needing assistance. Grant requests shall be evaluated and awarded no earlier than 6 months prior to the AMG dates. Grant awards must have at least 2/3 of the voting members voting in favor of the award. Grants may not be awarded to any member of the GC for the year. The GC shall maintain anonymity of both donors and recipients. The GC shall ensure that donors who earmark their contributions to specific members get these instructions carried out while still keeping anonymity. The GC shall ensure that any money left over is rolled over to the next AMG GC or used in an alternative way determined by the donors. Structural changes -- adding or removing members, adding or removing rules, or changing the chairmanship of the committee -- require at least 2/3 of the GC members to vote in favor of the change. Any changes in rules must be communicated to the forum membership.  The GC shall regularly produce a public report to the forum of all funds received and grants issued. This involves only actual monies received and disbursed rather than pledges or allocations. This will be in summary format in order to protect the anonymity of the donors and recipients. A closing report at the conclusion of the AMG is also expected. The GC shall work independently of but in close communication with other organizers of the AMG.

We are now humbly soliciting pledges for donations to the Grants Committee 2009. Please send a PM to the Grants Committee to let us know about your pledge. Any amount would be helpful. An account will be opened to accept these pledges. We will be accepting checks, money order, PayPal transfers, and electronic bank transfers once the account has been set up and this will be communicated to you timely. If you would like to earmark your pledge/donation to a specific member, please communicate that to us as well through the PM.

We are also going to start accepting requests for assistance so we could estimate the amount that we would need to raise. Please send us a PM if you are requesting assistance to be able to attend the AMG 2009. Please note that we would ask you specific questions about what type of assistance you would need (airfare, lodging) and the approximate amount needed. While we strive to be able to spread the donations to as many recipients as possible, it may not be possible to assist everyone.

As of this date, we have collected $800. It's been a tough year collecting donations and we do appreciate the generosity of the donors. Thank you. There is still plenty of time to donate. Please send us a PM if you'd like to donate cash or share a room.

To those who have sent us messages requesting assistance, please rest assured your requests are being considered. We have sent PM's acknowledging receipt of your requests; we will also be asking for additional information from you soon. We request that you respond to these. Thank you.

We are pleased to announce that we have gathered $2,000 in donations to date. Thanks a lot to all the generous donors who have continued to support this effort in spite of the current economic difficulties.

On behalf of the grant recipients, we sincerely thank the donors who continue to support this cause. Your generosity never ceases to amaze us. In spite of the tough economic conditions, we were still able to raise enough to assist 5 individuals have this truly memorable and heartwarming experience. Thank you.